Major League Lacrosse: Ohio Machine not satisfied just being in playoffs

Saturday

Aug 16, 2014 at 12:01 AMAug 16, 2014 at 10:05 AM

A five-game winning streak to end the regular season earned the Ohio Machine a spot in the Major League Lacrosse playoffs. The streak, tied for the longest in MLL this season, was all the more remarkable considering the Machine had never won consecutive games before its streak began on July?4.

Shawn Mitchell, The Columbus Dispatch

A five-game winning streak to end the regular season earned the Ohio Machine a spot in the Major League Lacrosse playoffs.

The streak, tied for the longest in MLL this season, was all the more remarkable considering the Machine had never won consecutive games before its streak began on July?4.

“It’s great, but now is the real challenge,” Machine attackman Marcus Holman said. “You don’t get remembered for just making the playoffs in this league. We want to be champions. Our goal right now is to beat the next team, whoever it is.”

That would be the top-seeded Rochester Rattlers (10-4), who will play host to the Machine (8-6) in a semifinal this afternoon. The winner will play Denver or New York in the championship next Saturday in Kennesaw, Ga.

The Machine swept the two-game season series against the Rattlers and handed Rochester its only home loss.

“Beating Rochester three times in one year is not going to be an easy task,” said Machine coach Bear Davis, who finished second in the league’s coach of the year voting behind Rochester’s Tim Soudan. “Going up there and beating them twice is not going to be easy, but playing us on our run is not going to be easy, either.

“Nothing in this league is easy, but that’s why there are only four teams left.”

The Machine scored a league-high 200 goals. Four players — Holman, Peter Baum, Logan Schuss and Kyle Harrison — scored 27 or more, the most since Denver and Rochester had four players with 27 or more in 2004.

Holman scored 37 goals, most in MLL, but Ohio is coming off a 14-10 win over Florida last Saturday in which it played one of its best defensive games of the season. Defenseman Dana Wilber was named the league’s defensive player of the week after his mark, MLL top scorer Casey Powell, was limited to a goal and no assists.

“You’ve got to credit our defense,” Holman said. “So much of the talk is about our offense, but they did a great job.”

After going 2-12 in its first season as an expansion team in 2012 and again in 2013, the Machine started 3-6 this season. But Ohio is finally humming, and the timing couldn’t be much better.

“Our goal was always to be playing the best lacrosse possible late in the season,” Machine general manager John Algie said. “Are we ahead of schedule? I don’t know. Certainly when you look back at the first two years, it’s a huge leap. But looking at the players we have, top to bottom, I don’t think it’s a surprise.

“There are still two huge games ahead of us, but the sky is the limit for this team with the talent we have.”

The Machine scored 35 goals against Rochester this season, including a 17-15 win at Sahlen’s Stadium on Aug.?2.

That venue won’t be available tonight because of a concert. Instead, the game will be played at Wegmans Stadium on the campus of the Aquinas Institute prep school.

“We’re not going to be happy just getting in (the playoffs),” Davis said. “That’s the way we’ve approached this whole season. We’re going up there on a mission.”